Category Archives: Planning

Health Campus gets priority

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Ever since the fire burnt down the Weybridge Community Hospital 5 years ago, residents have been asking what will be replacing this and when. Things are now finally moving forward with a commitment to faster progress on an affordable and achievable plan.

The recent public exhibition established that the new Health Campus on the old hospital site will get the primary focus, but the redevelopment of the library site is also expected to press ahead.

Weybetter Weybridge (a partnership of the key local organisations who are delivering the programme) estimate that the new health campus will be operational towards the end of 2025. Their vision is that the campus will provide:

  • Doctors, nurses and therapists working together to provide a one-stop shop for local health services
  • Access to ‘on the day’ urgent care provided by nurses, GPs and a range of health professionals
  • Ultrasound and advanced blood testing diagnostic services on site
  • A range of children’s services including a 0 to19 health visiting and school nursing hub, as well as speech and language and other therapy services

However, replacing the walk in centre is not in the plan (due to the creation of the Urgent Treatment Centre at St Peters) nor is an X-ray unit proposed (as the previous one was underused and there is good capacity in Walton).

The new library space will be designed to be flexible, enabling different types of activities and events to take place. It will include exhibition and performance space, alongside confidential rooms that can be used for workshops, classes or for groups to meet. There will be space throughout the building where people can use facilities including Wi-Fi, computers, printing and photocopying to support them to collaborate, work or study.

Weybetter Weybridge are proposing that part of the Churchfields Car Park will move from its existing position to Churchfields Bowling Green. This will allow for a large plaza as a multi-functional public space behind the new library. There is resident concern about this proposal.

LibDem Cllr Helgi Joensen will be participating in Weybetter Weybridge meetings. Do please add your own comments to this article.

There will of course be extensive public consultation in the months ahead. If you want to be kept up-to-date, submit your email address at https://tinyurl.com/jcfmtpnf. Further information is available at https://tinyurl.com/yswep5zp.

Elmbridge Local Plan now published

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A Local Plan that protects the character of Elmbridge

The Borough is required by government to produce a Local Plan that outlines how the housing need will be met for the next 15 years and the land that can be identified to allow for those future developments; it is underpinned by a number of documents that guide the council in its decision-making on what are acceptable developments in terms of good design, respect for the character of the location, coupled with environmental and sustainability considerations.

In order to provide a robust Local Plan to the Planning Inspectorate, our officers have consulted with residents and developers, they have investigated all land options and they have assessed every possible scenario, weighing national guidelines and planning legislation against the needs of Elmbridge and our residents. This Draft Local Plan represents that work and has the best interests of Elmbridge at its heart.

The Liberal Democrat and Resident Councillors will be putting forward a Draft Local Plan that will deliver the homes we need while protecting the character of our Borough including its precious Green Belt.

On 16 March 2022, the Elmbridge Draft Local Plan is being debated at a meeting of the Elmbridge Cabinet. The recommendations of the Cabinet will be presented to a Council meeting on 22 March 2022. If approved by Council, the next stage on the way to adoption is a ‘Regulation 19 representation’, after which the Plan will then be passed to the national Planning Inspectorate for examination.

Key points of the Draft Local Plan being presented to Cabinet on 16 March 2022

  1. The Plan allows for 465 homes per year over 15 years, not the 647 pushed for by the Conservative Government.

  2. The Plan will protect the Green Belt and enhance green infrastructure and biodiversity in the Borough.

  3. The Plan will shape development in the urban area to meet the needs of our communities, respecting and enhancing the unique characters of our towns and villages.

Read more on the council’s website here: News | Home | Elmbridge News

A new Local Plan for Elmbridge

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The Lib Dems, who form the joint administration of Elmbridge Borough Council with the Residents Association group, have fought for a Local Plan which cherishes the character of the area we all love and safeguards our Green Belt.

Lib Dem Leader on the Council, Bruce McDonald, said:

“We are putting community back at the heart of our Local Plan. It will help make Elmbridge the place we all want it to be as we rebuild after the pandemic. We want to make sure that our area is thriving with sustainable communities and businesses. We also believe that is is crucial that the residents of Elmbridge are given a voice in shaping our future. That’s why we stand against the Conservative government’s unrealistic housing target for Elmbridge. It has to go. The pandemic has proved how important our green spaces are to health and well-being. We have to put a stop to a system which would trample over our green spaces and damage the character of our towns.”

Lib Dems also challenged the Conservative government last year when they proposed huge planning reforms which would silence the voices of local residents in planning applications. After huge public outcry, and the Lib Dem victory in Chesham and Amersham, the Tories were forced to U-Turn and scrap their unpopular plans.

Local resident and Lib Dem campaigner, Gill Smith: “Lib Dems want to see our glorious area protected, and we want to make sure that local residents get a say in what happens in their local community. So many people tell us on the doorstep that they’re fed up with being ignored by the government and want to see a local team stand up for the things they care about, like our green spaces.”

 

New GSK HQ

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Application 2021/4257- New HQ for GSK

Glaxo Smith Kline, GSK, has submitted a planning application to build on a vacant site in The Heights Business Park between the Sony Europe and the Proctor & Gamble offices. Designed to be the HQ of their new Consumer Healthcare company it would house a Research & Development and Innovation space, a state-of-the-art Shopper Science lab, general office space and global support functions. About 1400 people will be employed at the site, some being moved from the current GSK site off St George’s Avenue which we understand GSK will close and probably be redeveloped. 

We know some residents are concerned that permission is being sought for a new building when there are a number of office blocks in the vicinity which have been vacant for some time and others are worried about over-development in the Locke King / Brooklands area. It seems a pity that GSK didn’t seek to refurbish one or more of these blocks for their new HQ. However, these have received approval for a change of use to flats under the government’s Permitted Development provisions and GSK argue that only a state-of-the-art, purpose-built, energy efficient building would suit their purposes.

The New Local Plan

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The draft Local Plan has been sent back to officers for further work

The Local Plan sets out the Council’s ‘Place Shaping’ vision for the next 10 to 15 years by showing areas in the borough which could be developed for housing. It has been years in the making and is in its final stages before presentation for public examination and then to the government’s Inspector.

The draft of the new Local Plan was recently presented to councillors who have asked officers to do some further work on it. The aim is to ensure it better represents the views and aspirations of the Borough’s councillors and residents. There are very serious concerns about the impact of any attempt to meet the government’s assessed housing requirement for Elmbridge of 641 dwellings a year for the next 15 years. This would have an impact on our Green Belt, open spaces and the character of our urban areas.

The Cabinet and the cross-party Local Plan Working Group therefore advised senior planning officers that the draft Local Plan, as presented, did not meet the aspirations of the vast majority of councillors and that further work was required before it could be published. The intention is that the short delay will ensure that the eventual Local Plan will have every chance of approval by the Planning Inspectorate. Lib Dem Leader Bruce McDonald described the move as: “Very significant. Our residents have told us so many times about their love for Elmbridge, its green spaces and their concerns for the Green Belt. I’m delighted to see the fruits of the numerous discussions we’ve been having. This is strong local democracy at work”.

Council Meetings: Real or Virtual?

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Virtual Council Meetings to end on May 7th

The Local Government Association (LGA), a cross-party body, has responded to the government’s announcement that emergency legislation allowing virtual council meetings will not be extended beyond May 7th.

Cllr James Jamieson, Chairman of the LGA, said: 

“This decision is extremely disappointing. The Government’s own roadmap out of lockdown states that indoor gatherings or events – organised by a business, charity, public body or similar organisation – cannot be organised until May 17 at the earliest. Yet councils will be unable to hold remote meetings from May 7. MPs will retain the right to participate remotely until at least June 21 but the powers-that-be in the House of Commons will not make time available to legislate for councillors to do the same. 

“The case is clear for the ability for councils to continue to be able to hold meetings flexibly. We urge the Government to reverse this decision and not force councils to have to hold COVID-19 secure face-to-face council meetings until all restrictions are lifted. 

“This also risks damaging the gains seen in public participation in remote council meetings during the pandemic and our vital local democratic process.

“Left with no choice, Lawyers in Local Government, the Association of Democratic Services and Hertfordshire County Council have made an application to the Courts to declare that councils already have the powers needed to hold online meetings. The LGA will be providing support in these proceedings as the representative body for councils.”

 

Support from the Planning Inspectorate!!

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Former Cafe Rouge, Queens Road

At last a Planning Inspector has agreed with a decision of your local councillors with regard to off-street parking provision! 

As anyone who lives in Weybridge Riverside or in the triangle near Queen’s road knows, parking spaces for residents are at a premium. This acute pressure on both day and night time parking is known technically as ‘parking stress’.

Councillors Vicki Macleod and Ashley Tilling have long argued that planning permission should not be granted to developments which do not provide adequate off-street parking.  The development at the former Grotto pub is a case in point.  

More recently, fellow councillors on the committee have agreed with your local councillors and this has led to a number of proposals being turned down because of inadequate parking – for example one in Baker Street and another in South Road.  Both of these refusals were turned over by national Planning Inspectors and the developments went ahead, with inadequate parking or indeed in South Road, no parking for residents of the new builds. 

In August last year, the local planning committee refused permission on three applications for flats in the old Cafe Rouge building (2020/0265, 0473 and 1288) because of inadequate parking.  We were notified on Thursday 1st April that for the first time in our memory (and we don’t think this was an April Fool) the committee’s refusal on the grounds of inadequate parking provision was upheld by the Inspector.  In summing up his observations and reasoning, the Inspector said:

“I therefore find that the proposed development would be harmful to residential living conditions through increased parking pressures on nearby local roads. It would conflict with Policy DM7 b) of the Elmbridge Local Plan Development Management Plan April 2015 which seeks that the proposed parking provision should be appropriate to the development and not result in an increase in onstreet parking stress that would be detrimental to the amenities of local residents.“

This is a major step forward for Weybridge as it now gives Inspectorate backing to our arguments on the need for adequate off-street parking provision to be made for new developments in and near our town centre.

This gives us hope that we may again get Inspector backing in the case of Clive House in Queen’s Road (2020/2438).  Here, the planning committee on Wednesday 30th April refused permission for an additional floor to be built on top of the existing building and one of the reasons given for refusal was lack of adequate off-street parking. The second reason for refusal was the harm to the character of the area because of the imposing mass that would be created by adding another floor.

 

The future of Weybridge Town Centre – Part 2

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Introductory Overview: click here for Part 1

The text below is an extract from a project press release in December and gives more detail on the ambitions for the project as well as an update on NHS changes and the future of urgent care and walk-in services locally.

Among the agreed outcomes of the October stakeholder meeting:

  • High quality primary care as an integrated part of broad health and wellbeing offer
  • Priority to rehouse the GPs and health care facilities and related services
  • Key to bring together health, care, enhanced library, services from Churchfields centre, youth centre, cinema, as well as arts/culture/heritage to create an integrated coherent whole
  • Project fits with ambitious plans for the enhanced role of libraries of the future – taking on social, economic, cultural and educational aspects – ‘centres of community’
  • Two phase approach can be adopted so new health facilities can come first
  • Create integrated, flexible space, open to and involving all sectors of the community: statutory, community and private
  • Need to reach out to entrepreneurs and local organisations and find the key people who will use these services and contribute life and longevity to the buildings
  • Project is as much about change of culture as construction of new buildings – breaking down silo-type thinking so organisations and authorities and groups really work together as a local team
  • Business model must underpin project – not only provide public services but attract entrepreneurs, making spaces people want to go to/use, ensuring economic viability
  • High quality design, architecture/landscaping, maybe new town square/plaza
  • Project must be guided by environmental/health concerns, climate change and pandemic proofing

Next key step: finalising an outline business case for the health care elements of the project which will next be submitted to NHS England for approval.

Health Care: What Do We Know So Far?
The new health care component will offer a much wider range of services than was previously available, and the project has now determined what some of those will be. The list below is a minimum plan to offer:

  • GP services with increased support via online, telephone and video appointments and same day and face-to-face access for those who need it
  • Mental health services
  • Health hub for delivering community and outpatient services – e.g. counselling, podiatry, physiotherapy
  • Diagnostics including X-ray, ultrasound and phlebotomy
  • Women’s and children’s hub
  • Urgent care service (see below)
  • Wider wellbeing services to help people stay healthy and well

The Future of Urgent Care and Walk-in Centres
Key to determining future services in Weybridge is the NHS review of urgent care and walk-in facilities across North West Surrey. This is driven by new national standards for walk-in care, which means it is not possible to replace the former walk-in centre in Weybridge with like-for-like services.

Between January and March 2020, the NHS ran a series of events to test a shortlist of options for how to provide walk-in type services in the future with local people. This included whether or not to house an Urgent Treatment Centre (UTC) in Weybridge. UTCs are GP-led (rather than nurse-led), open for a minimum of 12 hours a day – from 8 am-8 pm, able to provide diagnostics (such as X-ray, blood and urine tests) and able to provide some bookable appointments from NHS 111.

The NHS is able to progress plans for the wider range of services to be available from the new Weybridge facility whether a UTC is part of the final site plan or not. Flexibility is key for the new site in any case, and a shortlist of options is now being reviewed in light of changes in how patients access care and revised guidance from NHS England. Should this result in a proposal to materially change the provisioned walk-in centre services across North West Surrey, a full public consultation would follow.

The COVID-19 pandemic has of course accelerated a pre-existing shift towards use of digital services. In the long term the NHS anticipates this will continue, as it also plans safe services that limit the volume of people gathering in surgeries, clinics and hospitals.

 

Planning refusals: 85 Queens Road (former Café Rouge)

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85 Queens Road: four applications 2020/0265, 0473, 1288 and 1333

At the South Area Planning Sub-Committee held on Thursday 20th August four applications for changes to the former Café Rouge building were considered. Three of these were for more residential accommodation on the site and one was for extending restaurant seating space. The planning procedure allows a developer to make multiple applications for the same site but requires that each application has to be taken on its own merits. In this case there were two very similar applications, one to provide five flats on the site, the other to add three flats. The planning committee could have permitted both and it would then be up to the developer to choose which one to implement.

The application to convert the first and second floors into four flats and add a flat in a rear extension whilst retaining a smaller restaurant (2020/0265) was refused. Councillors believed there would be a significant increase to the parking stress already experienced in this location, particularly in Princes Road and South Road. This was in light of an application for nine flats on the Wessex site in South Road, recently permitted on appeal, and concerns over the cumulative effect this could have on demand for parking spaces. 

The developer had also applied to build a mansard roof with dormer windows (2020/0473) for a two-bedroom flat. Councillors raised concerns about the increase to perceived overlooking of gardens and properties on South Road. However, it was deemed there were insufficient technical grounds to support this reason to refuse. The argument was that, as there were already windows on the second floor, windows in the mansard roof would not add to overlooking. Additionally, the separation distance was greater than the 22 metres recommended as a minimum separation distance between facades. Despite the building not being a locally listed building, i.e. a heritage asset, the majority of councillors supported refusal due to the effect the roof would have on the character of this unusual art deco building and on the overall impact to the local street scene. 

A further application for three additional flats (2020/1288) was rejected for the same reason – parking stress – as that for the five flats. 

Finally, the application for an extension to the restaurant (2020/1333) was approved given that, under the current Covid-19 circumstances, additional space in the restaurant could be of significant benefit to the long-term success of the business.

 

 

Planning refusal: Clive House, Queens Road

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Clive House, 12-18 Queens Road: applications 2018/2252 and 2019/2286

Clive House is a two storey, flat roofed construction set back from Queens Road so that it doesn’t dominate the street scene. The proposals put forward from Pegasus Life were to demolish the existing office building and replace it with 31 or 30 ‘age restricted’ apartments.

Councillors on the South Area Planning Sub-Committee refused the applications on the grounds that the proposed buildings would be in conflict with the Council’s design policies in that they would be predominantly three storey buildings with steeply pitched roof spaces which would appear oversized in the street scene. They would also harm the character and appearance of the surrounding area particularly with regard to the neighbouring Salisbury House.

The developer appealed and a few weeks ago the result of that appeal was received from the government’s Planning Inspectorate.

The Inspector dismissed the appeals. She agreed with the councillors’ reasons to reject the applications and made particular reference to the effect on the adjacent Salisbury House. This is not a heritage asset of the highest significance, but it was deemed that the proposed developments afforded it significant harm as it is of local historic value and an irreplaceable resource.